Ever considered RF and EMF health effects of the pump?

Diabetes Technology Insulin Pumps
1

I think everyone knows that there’s a big controversy about whether living near power lines really causes childhood leukemia or if cell phones cause brain tumors, but I was listening to an expert on the radio discussing how they believe it’s all true and it made me immediately think of my PUMP. Any high electromagnetic or RF level is considered by many (and has been proven in many studies) to cause all sorts of physical symptoms (sleep disturbances, cellular changes, etc) and especially high levels close to the body, even cancer. This is particularly true of pulsed EMF or RF. I’m not an expert and I can’t hope to explain everything here to anyone, but here a few good links to check out for more info:
http://emf.epri.com/ and http://www.bioinitiative.org/

I would really like to hear from others who have a better gaussmeter than me (I know there have got to be tinkering technonerds out there :wink: because here’s what my ElectroSensor EM Field Detector (which seems to work quite accurately) says about my MM715 pump. Within a inch or so it emits a constant 1.5 to 3 milligauss. Then it pulses every few seconds and my EMF meter shoots all the way up to the red/danger 30 milligauss (the highest the meter goes) level! I thought this was the remote function, pulsing a signal out all the time as it does, searching for a signal. (But does RF show up like that on an EMF meter? And wait… pulsed EMF every few seconds against the skin. Is that really good???)

I turned the remote option OFF and doublechecked that the meter option is OFF. There should be nothing now being emitted from my pump except any EM it’s making just by operating. Pulse! Pulse! It wasn’t the remote! The pump shoots up into the 30+ milligauss range every few seconds. It seems to be tied to each time the motor “clicks” to deliver insulin. Even 3 inches away the pulses can still register as high as 15 milligauss. Now, I wear my pump tucked into my bra or undies and so I’m living with a continuous 2 or 3 milligaus field over my abdomen or heart, with 30 milligauss pulses every few seconds. According to the expert (and the reports I read later), this is technically dangerous. Especially against my skin, all day long, day after day.

Which brings me to what I don’t have yet, but would like: CGM. Even more EMF and RF signals, right against the body, all day, all night, without rest. I mean, technology like pumps (which I certainly do not want to live without) is great, but I can’t help but wonder if I’m giving myself stomach cancer by wearing a pump at my waistline. (Of course, if the alternative is a high a1c, what will kill me quicker?) It’s kind of creepy. If there truly are people out there who are “electrosensitive”, the pump would horrible for them. (Almost worse than diabetes itself.)

Can anyone confirm the milligauss levels with better equipment? What’s your take on it? The power companies and the mobile phone industry says we’re perfectly safe with EMF and RF waves all around us, but many others (particularly in Europe) say otherwise.

2

I work in high energy physics, which roughly translates to the fact that I deal with RF radiation measured in megawatts of energy. Our systems are very directional, and it isn’t advisable to go wandering around in the beam if you want to keep on living a long life. But the ambient RF energies around our equipment are much higher than those you mention. The Dept of Defense has done extensive work on the effects of RF on the body (and the effects of RF on electronic equipment similar to insulin pumps). It would take a field strength much higher than those you suggest to have any detrimental effect on someone. I would be far more worried about the effect of RF energy on the insulin pump’s electronics. They are much more sensitive to it than we are. The ability of low-energy RF to penetrate into a body is extremely limited – in the order of less than a millimeter. I put my pump inside a lead-foil film protector bag (remember film – before digital cameras?) when I work around the microwave equipment. One of these days, when I have a couple of old spare pumps that I don’t use any more, I may do some experimenting to find out the RF production and vulnerability characteristics of a pump.

3

I don’t think there is really a controversy about power lines or cell phones causing cancer or other ailments. For a controversy to exist, there would need to be compelling evidence on both sides of the argument. There was once suspicion about these devices, but the evidence has clearly shown they pose no notable risk. I would imagine the same is true of an insulin pump, considering its extremely low power output.

4

I believe that the more you worry about this, the more likely you will get cancer. Do healthy activities, walk outside, experience nature, and that will offset any negative effects of EMF or RF. Rotate sites too. =)